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+--- Thread: [G] [C] 733.03.05 | Gathering Gifts (/showthread.php?tid=1821)
733.03.05 | Gathering Gifts - Andeleen - 08.Aug.13
Andeleen - Assistant Headwoman of the Lord Holder's household
Unnamed daughters, 8 and 6
The sure, quiet steps of Andeleen carried her effortlessly through the crowded streets of Telgar as she made her way into the Market Place, her heavy winter skirts swirling around her ankles, the slightly raised heels of her boots clacking on the cobbled paths. On either side of her, clinging to her hands, two little girls trotted to keep up with their mother. Eight and six, their blonde hair hung in a loose sheet down to their waists, whipped about by the harsh winter breeze, while Andeleen's own was shorter, trimmed to rest just above her shoulders. Their little dresses were of a similar style, and small black boots kept their feet clean and tidy. Clearly a woman of some wealth, her children were obviously spoiled.
Andeleen had come a long way, from the lifestyle she had lived as a child herself, and being able to dress her daughters in the latest fashion was of quite some importance to the woman, who thoroughly enjoyed the lavish life she now lived, though she'd never forgotten the hardships of being born a peasant far from the Telgar region. That, too, was somewhere that life had brought her that she had no anticipated in her youth. She wouldn't change it, though, even with the harsh winter breeze that was blowing through the buildings and made walking difficult. She hauled on her youngest daughter's hand when the girl slipped, and helped to steady her before marching on. They had tasks to be completed, and Andeleen did not have all day to fuss around - unfortunately!
"In here, girls," Andeleen said crisply, pausing so her elder daughter could shove the door open bodily, and the little group almost fell into the shop. A small building, it was filled with many delicate trinkets, and carefully designed odds and ends. Most of it, of course, was simple dust gathering wastes of money, but Andeleen also knew that sometimes a true gem would pop up in the little gift shop, and that was why she was there. She released the hands of her girls, and let them slink around the shop, their hands folded in front of themselves as they looked but did not touch; just as they'd been taught. They whispered excitedly to one another, careful not to disturb the sparse few other occupants of the shop.
Andeleen brushed off her skirts and folded her own hands behind her back, peering around the shop for a moment to get a feel of who was there, before quietly walking in, moving around the outer edge first, and keeping her eyes peeled for the perfect gift.
Re: Gathering Gifts [Open!] - Warkhim - 06.Sep.13
It was not just cold, but fucking freezing when Warkhim left the warmth of his room to search for an appropriate wood to replace his broken dulcimer hammer. He slouched along the cobblestones, popping his head haphazardly into shops in search of anything made of suitable material- a strong oak or walnut, or perhaps cherrywood in a pinch- to remake the snapped left-handed hammer.
Oh, what a surprise that had been last night. Some idiotic little drudge had misplaced his hammer while cleaning his room earlier in the evening, a task he'd explicitly forbidden without his direct supervision, setting the finely made articles atop his chest of drawers near the door instead of their proper place beside his instrument. He'd returned to his room after his dinner, slush tracking along the halls from his thick boots, and shut the door behind him with no more gusto than a normal entry. Much to his shock and rage, the reverberation had been enough to knock the hammer from its place, cracking the face against the cold ground with an echoing snap. After calming himself with a few choice swears and vows of violence, Warkhim resolved to remake the unusable hammer the next day, and to find the responsible drudge and beat her with the broken one until he was content. Perhaps oaken splinters would teach her to obey him.
Stepping into a shop full of trinkets, baubles, and assorted crap, Warkhim surveyed the other shoppers with a discerning eye. An attractive blonde woman moved along the outside edge- she was far more attractive than the others present- and he idly smiled at her form. A lovely woman couldn't be covered by layers of fur, and the Archivist imagined rather vividly what she looked like beneath all that clothing.
Two young girls interrupted his thoughts, but he stared at them impassively, proud that he'd managed to hide his scowl. They were well-dressed and thankfully quiet, and, if their looks were any indicator, likely belonged to the blonde woman across the store. Warkhim sighed. Leave it to children to ruin a perfectly good body.
He squeezed past the girls to the back of the shop, and nestled among the children's toys and games was a fine display of checkers on a wooden board. He ran long fingers along the walnut surface, pleased by the firmness and cut of the wood, and considered how easy it would be to make not one, but two new dulcimer hammers from the reconstructed board. As much as Warkhim loathed manual labor he couldn't trust the Woodcrafters to understand a quality musical product, and would have to make them on his own.
After a moment lost in his appreciation of the board, he got the distinct and jarring feeling that he was being watched. Warkhim turned with an arched brow to see the younger of the two girls staring up at him as he surveyed the game. He squinted at her in silence for a long pause before finally drawling, "Yes?"
Re: Gathering Gifts [Open!] - Andeleen - 20.Sep.13
Andeleen looked up from the small glass figurine she was delicately handling when the door opened once more, brown eyes narrowing just slightly as she took in the face, before recognising the man, and nodding a greeting. Her attention returned to the item she was considering. While Andeleen didn't know the man personally (she was quite sure she'd never seen him up close before) she certainly knew of him. It was something she'd taken particular pride in, and was perhaps one of the reasons she had managed to make her way so high into the ranks, considering her particularly low born start. She was a great gossip, she was a fantastic listener, and while her memory was full of holes, there were some things that were just too fat and juicy to slip through.
Clearly, Warkhim was one of those things. Andeleen knew enough about him to recognise the man, and she knew where he worked and what he got up to; he was an important figure in the hold, though she had also heard some whispers amongst her fellows that he wasn't quite as important as he seemed to think himself. Her lips twitched into a slight smile as she twisted the figurine in her fingertips. It was a lovely rendering of a dragon, something that had (once upon a time) been illegal. She was glad it wasn't any more, though she could understand why it had been, when some of the items that looked far more like whers were labled as dragons.
"Darling, leave the gentleman alone," Andeleen looked up from where she was exchanging agreed upon marks with the owner of the store, and getting the glass trinket wrapped. It was a gorgeous shade of green that reminded her of her brother's dragon, though she wasn't quite sure she recalled it accurately. The lime green struck her as slightly wrong, but it was a gorgeous colour none-the-less. She was sure Lykrith had been that colour, though. Taking the little package from the man, Andeleen made her way over to where the youngest of her girls was still staring up at Warkhim.
"But you're a grown up," the little girl insisted (for the umpteenth time). "You can't play with children's toys!" Her indignation about such a thing caused an amused pursing of Andeleen's lips as she stopped behind the little girl. The child's hands were on her hips, and her big blue eyes were staring up at Warkhim intently. Andeleen placed a hand lightly on the crown of her daughter's head, and looked apologetically at the man.
"My apologies, sir. I hope she hasn't disturbed you too much."